U.S. relations

About the Author

In the course of presidential election politics, the present
inevitably takes a beating. In the discussion of American global
leadership, virtually no good news ever gets into the debate, to
the extent foreign policy is discussed at all.

And yet, several recent positive developments deserve to be noted.
One vital positive sign was the agreement within NATO at the
Bucharest summit in early April to endorse missile defense and the
willingness of two European nations to host installations, Poland
and the Czech Republic. The governments of both countries went out
on a limb, with their own publics and with their European
neighbors, many of whom still don't understand why the
proliferation of missiles as well as nuclear technology would
present any threat to them. The relationship with the United
States, however, proved to be more powerful than the arguments of
the opposition.

Furthermore, on April 13 and 14, Italian voters elected a strong
ally of the United States to lead their government, Silvio
Berlusconi, who is back as prime minister for the third time. His
new government will take power next month. He handily defeated
Romano Prodi's unwieldy nine-party coalition of communists,
Catholics and assorted other minor parties, which fell victim in
January to internal squabble and inefficiency and which lasted only
two years. Mr. Berlusconi is often caricatured as a buffoon - "God
help Italy," said the Economist - and yet he is likely to offer
Italy both political stability and more fiscal
responsibility.

Internationally, Mr. Berlusconi can be counted on to restore
Italy's position as an important ally of the United States. While
Italy no longer has troops deployed in Iraq, where it was an early
and staunch supporter for the United States, it is likely that Mr.
Berlusconi will heed the call to contribute more troops to
Afghanistan and ease up on the conditions of their deployment - a
sore point within the NATO alliance where a few countries carry the
heavy burden of providing security while others limit themselves to
building schools and bridges. Meanwhile, Italy is also leading a
deployment in Lebanon, where rules of engagement imposed by the
Prodi government have left Italian soldiers ineffective.

Equally encouraging from an American point of view was the
parliamentary election in South Korea on April 9, which brought to
power President Lee Myung-bak's Grand National Party and affirmed
his presidential leadership. This is likely to help restore the
important U.S.-South Korean relationship - as well as put South
Korea's fiscal house in order. The president himself was sworn in
on Feb. 25, and in both the presidential and parliamentary
election, South Korean voters offered their new leadership a
landslide mandate.

An early affirmation of the U.S.-South Korean relationship came on
Mr. Lee's visit to the United States April 15. Repairing the
relationship between Seoul and Washington is one of his stated
objectives, which marks a sea change from his predecessor, Roh
Moo-hyun, who saw everything in the light on inter-Korean
relations, and felt there was nothing particularly objectionable
about anti-Americanism.

As a result, the past five years under Mr. Roh was a rocky period
that is well behind us. Public opinion in South Korea is already
registering in favor of continued U.S. military engagement.
Unfortunately, two important issues between the two countries are
still in limbo here in Washington: visa waivers for South Korean
visits to the United States and the South Korean Free Trade
Agreement, which is falling victim to U.S. presidential election
politics on the Democratic side.

Meanwhile, the North Korean leadership has been apoplectic about
the warming relations between Seoul and Washington, and its
propaganda agencies have railed against Mr. Lee as a "traitor" and
a "sycophant toward the U.S." The South Korean and the Italian
elections, as well as the missile defense developments in Poland
and the Czech Republic, are part of a positive trend that started
several years ago. The election of Chancellor Angela Merkel in
Germany has made a vast difference in U.S.-German relations, which
had plummeted to a post-World War II low under Gerhard Schroeder.
Likewise, the election last year of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy has meant a positive sea change in relations with the
United States.

This does not mean that the U.S. government will be seeing
eye-to-eye with our international friends and allies on every
question - far from it - but it does mean that a growing number of
nations are coming back to the realization of the indispensable
nature of the United States as an international leader.

Helle
Daleis director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center
for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation.